


and one day, we'll be there -- together, under the same sky

by Lyre (Lyrecho)



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: AU, And Her Relationship With Riku, Emphasis On The Rikai, Gen, If I Ever Continue This It Will Be Sorikai, In this house we love and respect Kairi, Set Post KH3, The Entire Destiny Trio Shares A Paopu Fruit Fuck You, Written Pre Re:Mind's Announcement, Written Pre Re:Mind's Release
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26139247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Lyre
Summary: “Hey,” Sora says. His voice is soft, unguarded. His smile is the same as it’s always been.Yet somehow, entwining his fingers with hers, he seems sad.“Hey,” Kairi says back, just as quiet. “What are you doing here?”He leans forward, and presses a kiss to her forehead.“I’m here to take you home,” he says.|Tumblr||Twitter|
Relationships: Kairi & Riku & Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	and one day, we'll be there -- together, under the same sky

**Author's Note:**

> so here's this. little au i got inspired to write immediately post kh3 that never really went anywhere. maybe on day i'll come back to it, idk.

The clock reads 2:18, and the sky outside her window is dark. Kairi wakes up with tears in her eyes, and knows she won’t be getting back to sleep tonight.

She hasn’t managed a full night’s sleep since she returned to the islands. Until -- until Sora comes home, too, she doubts she’ll be able to.

She rolls over, and pulls Sora’s gummiphone out from where she keeps it hidden and safe while she sleeps; tucked right under her pillow. She has her own, technically, but she hasn’t used it since fading back into reality, Sora’s hand in hers fading away, leaving her with only a phone, his necklace wrapped around it, and a hole in her heart.

She’d never wanted this, never would have asked for it, and yet, it’s what she got anyway.

She can’t help but feel guilty.

She thumbs the phone to life, more for something to distract herself with than any desire for communication -- besides Sora, so far out of reach, the only person she really wants to talk to anyway is Riku, and he’s been offline and off the grid ever since she’d quietly handed Sora’s necklace over to him, like the note on Sora’s phone had told her to.

She misses him, and feels torn between anger and a sense that this is what she deserves over the fact that she’s been left behind,  _ again. _

But, well -- they’re all processing their grief differently, and she and Riku both, Kairi knows, are stuck in a looping state of denial.

Sora had brought her back, after all. Had ripped them all back to life with no concern for himself.

They just needed to find a way to return the favour.

Destiny’s Embrace hums warm and ready in the back of her mind, and Kairi smiles. It’s a smile that’s faint and weak but  _ there. _ Maybe she had, to her chagrin, never ended up actually managing to succeed in doing much with her Keyblade during that final fight, but she’d trained long and hard, and knew her blade like an old friend.

_ Home, _ it chimes at her.  _ Love. Bravery. Not useless. _

Pretty words; words she needs, regardless of how false they might be.

It’s a nice reminder, too -- she’s been wallowing in grief and guilt and her own weakness, trapped in the patterns of her own mind and memories, just  _ waiting  _ for Sora to produce a miracle and return to them, just  _ waiting _ for Riku to find a way to bring him  _ home _ to them.

_ No more waiting for you to come back from your adventures. _

The clock reads 2:43. It’s dark outside, and in his bed, Kairi’s father is likely still sleeping.

With an apology and sorrow in her heart, she leaves him a note.

-x-

“You're being reckless.” Mickey’s words are scolding, but even through the tinny echo the gummiphone speakers produce, Riku can hear the concern.

“I don’t see how,” Riku argues. “I’m keeping in contact, aren’t I? I’m making sure I eat regular meals and get enough sleep. The opposite of --”

“Riku,” Mickey says, quiet and sad and so  _ understanding, _ and it’s infuriating. “When was the last time you landed on a world for longer than an overnight stay?”

Riku pauses. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

Mickey sighs. “If you won’t go home, come and stay in Disney Town for a while? Minnie is worried about you. I’m worried about you too, if I’m being honest.”

“Don’t be,” he says. “I’m fine.

He ends the call before Mickey can say anything else -- stoke his guilt any higher.

And then, he breathes. It hurts, like most things do, these days -- an ache in his chest where Sora used to be. The shimmering thread that links him to Kairi is as warm and alive as ever, nothing like the numb sensation both of the bonds tied to him had felt like before they’d returned on the beach, nothing like the cold  _ snap _ and recoil of Sora’s before it had crumbled into emptiness.

He knows, now, why the paopu legend stays just that to most people on the islands -- every fairytale has its dark side, and this loss is the stain that darkens this one.


End file.
